BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Laurence Vandenborre is the Founder and Managing Director of The Red Pencil and a Registered Arts Therapist, with a background in professional counselling and life coaching.

Laurence started practicing arts therapy at Raffles Hospital, in Singapore, for a few years before opening her own private practice “The Arts Therapy Studio”. For years, her interest has included working with adults and family dynamics, in a multicultural context, helping them to journey through their challenges towards a happier, more fulfilled and hopeful life.

Laurence has served as a Board Director of Very Special Arts Singapore, a charity whose mission is to bring the benefits of the arts for people with disabilities. She is currently a Board Member of The Art Therapy Association of Singapore (ATAS) and of the Australian and New Zealand Art Therapy Association (ANZATA).

Laurence holds a Masters of Arts in Germanic Philology (Dutch and English) from the University of Louvain-La-Neuve (LLN, Belgium) and a Masters Degree in Art Therapy (LASALLE College of the Arts, accredited by the UK Open University). She has also received diplomas in Teaching Aggregation (University of LLN), Corporate Coaching (USA Corporate Coach U), Applied Skills Counselling (Singapore), and Expressive Therapies (Australian Institute of Expressive Therapies and US National Institute of Expressive Therapy).

laurence@redpencil.org

Alain Vandenborre is the Executive Chairman and founder of Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange Pte Ltd  (SDiX), of which he is the largest shareholder. SDiX has developed the world first commodity exchange in physically settled diamonds. 

Alain founded his first company in Belgium at the age of 26, developing new laser technologies for microelectronic design applications. In Singapore, he was the co-founder and shareholder until 2015 of Le Freeport Management Pte Ltd – formerly known as The Singapore Freeport Pte Ltd. He has been a Board Member at LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore since 2006. Alain is Chairman and co-founder of The Red Pencil and passionately supporting this international humanitarian mission founded by his wife Laurence in 2011.

Alain holds an MA in Astrophysics from the University of Liege (Summa cum Laude), an Optoelectronics Engineering degree from the University of Paris and an Executive Master in Management from the Solvay Business School of the University of Brussels.

Mr Chong is the Chairman of China Art Foundation Ltd and Co-founder of The Culture Story Pte Ltd.

He is also a shareholder and Director of Leading HR Pte Ltd, a major HR company in Chongqing, and an Independent Director of Catalist-listed Plato Capital Ltd.

He is also an investor and Director of the leading art e-commerce enterprise, The Artling, based in Singapore.

Mr Chong previously served as a senior officer with the Economic Development Board of Singapore for two years (1976-78) before joining the financial services sector in 1979.

Mr Chong was the Managing Director of Vickers da Costa Securities and John Govett Asia from 1984-1988, and 1989-1994 respectively.

Between 1994 and 1997, he was the Managing Director and substantial shareholder of Sesdaq-listed Pan Pacific Public Company Ltd and was the Vice Chairman and substantial shareholder of Panpac Media Ltd from 1998 to 2003.

Since 2003, Mr Chong has been investing as a private investor in various start-up projects in Singapore and China.

Mr Chong, a Colombo Plan scholar,  graduated from the University of Manchester with a Degree in Polymer Physics (First Class) in 1973.

Karen Tay Koh is a Board Director of HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited, SGX-listed Banyan Tree Holdings, and BC Platforms AG, a world leader in genomics data management.  She is on the Advisory Board of Northeastern University’s Center for Emerging Markets, D’Amore Mckim School of Business, USA, after serving on the University’s Corporation from 2011-18.  Her previous Directorships include Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation, Singapore EDB Investments, and Falck (Denmark).

Karen started her public service career at the Singapore Ministry of Finance, and pivoted into healthcare when she was appointed Deputy CEO of Singhealth and Singapore General Hospital.  Creative Arts Therapy combines her interest in improving human health and promoting the arts.  She has served on the board of Opera Viva, as well on the 2008 Singapore Biennale Steering Committee, and once owned an arts management company which produced operas and exhibitions for artist friends.

Karen holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Economics from the University of Cambridge UK and a Master in Public Administration / International Tax Program (Certificate) from Harvard University USA.

Soek believes that the core of a compelling strategy is purpose, leading to business and social impact. She has over two decades of experience in community engagement, communications and advocacy, operations, and strategy in engineering, healthcare, telecommunications, consumer, public service, and not-for-profit industries. She spent most of her career in the US, working for global corporations and philanthropic organisations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

She currently serves as the Director, Strategy & Policy, at the National Volunteerism and Philanthropy Centre, which partners with government agencies, non-profits, and businesses to grow a culture of giving in Singapore. Her portfolio includes governance, audit and risk management, strategy, corporate planning, and organisational development.

She is passionate about causes that benefit children’s education and health, and volunteers as a mentor to youth, consultant in strategy, and photographer for events at various non-profit organisations.

Sharon is currently the Chief Operating Officer of DBS Singapore and is part of the Singapore Management Committee. Sharon started her career as a Management Associate in DBS Bank and has held leadership roles in product management, post-acquisition integration, partnerships, strategy planning, customer experience and digital transformation across key Asian markets.

Sharon is passionate about using innovation and technology to make a difference in the community. Sharon is a Singapore representative of United Nations Unleash Innovation Lab. She also served on the Executive Committee of the Young Women's Leadership Connection to help develop the next generation of women leaders in Singapore. During the pandemic, she founded an online enrichment programme for less privileged children to be able to continue learning when school curriculum was disrupted.